Hi, I’m Joe V. The V is for Vadeboncoeur, but no one ever really calls me that (except my business card). That card also calls me the Global Director of Product Development, Marketing and Creative Design for Trek Bicycle. Yep, I am sometimes not really sure what all that means either. I do know that I dig bikes, oatmeal, motorcycles, burritos, the weird things I see along the way, my family and my job. I get to travel the world helping make great bikes, so it’s a pretty great gig.

Related Links

February 13, 2008

Pinocchio's Ride

Last week the North American Handmade Bicycle Show went down in Portland, OR bringing with it a host of custom creations and bicycle artists. You'll have to check the website for the lowdown but we sent several of our designers and product managers to see what was going on and they've brought back a ridiculous amount of photos of some of the greatest gears created in somebody's basement/garage/workshop over the past year. I'll try to share a few with you in the coming weeks. I'll put it this way; bicycle people tend to be the free-est of thinkers and when given a forum to display their wares they come correct.

One bike that wasn't at the show but i thought I had to share with you is this hand-crafted wooden bicycle that was created by........are you ready for this.........a 16 year old! When I was 16 I had bad acne and couldn't pass my driver's test. This kid made a working (stop and reflect upon that word) bike chain and gearing out of wood. Out of wood! That's some serious wittling. The creator's name is Marco Facciola and apparently the bike was a project that he did for school. I made some pretty sweet dioramas in my day but this kid just took school projects to a whole new level. Kinda makes the kid who made the Mancala board in wood shop look a little sick. "You made a working bicycle? Thanks a lot Marco. Want to play Mancala?" Sadly, the answer is always "no" because Mancala is boring. To Marco, my hat's off to you kid. Way to set the curve!

To all of the hardcore Mancala players who I have now offended, I apologize for nothing. While I recognize the historical significance of the game, I still think it's lame. Try Connect Four. Now, that's a game.